Study: iOS, iPad gain enterprise computing share

iOS devices were the most popular new devices activated using Good Technology's enterprise software, according to a study the company released today.

(Credit: Good Technology)

Apple has said many times that the iPhone and iPad are gaining popularity with enterprise-level businesses. We've heard most recently that the iPad is either being used or tested for use at "more than 80 percent" of Fortune 100 companies, according to Apple COO Tim Cook. Today, a company that makes enterprise software is providing additional evidence that corporate customers are warming to the iPad, with details on which industries are embracing it already.

Good Technology makes enterprise software for mobile devices (Good For Enterprise), and over the last year has been tracking which devices its clients put its software on. Using data gleaned from more than 2,000 clients, Good found that during the fourth quarter of 2010, more than 65 percent of all activations using its software were on iOS devices--which means iPhones and iPads. iPad activations grew from 14 percent of all new devices to 22 percent of all new devices during that same time period.

The most activated devices Good saw during the quarter were, in order, iPhone 4, iPad, iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid X, and Motorola Droid 2. Overall, Android phones remained about a third of new devices activated during the quarter, roughly the same as the previous three months, according to the study. For the first time, there were no Windows Mobile or Symbian devices in the top 10 most activated new devices, Good found.

It should be noted that Windows Phone 7 is not included since Good doesn't support that platform yet, and all BlackBerry software is run off the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, so Good does not have access to data regarding activations of RIM's smart phone devices.

We also get some detail on where the iPad is being used. Good found that the industry its customers are most using the iPad in are financial services, followed by health care, legal/professional services, high tech, government/public sector, and wholesale/retail.

Apple obviously has a head start in tablets since the iPad has been available since April 2010, but in the coming year it should have some competition. There are several Android tablets expected to be released this year, as well as WebOS tablets from Hewlett-Packard, which is a heavyweight when it comes to enterprise customers. But the biggest challenge for tablet adoption in enterprise is likely to come from RIM, which, as previously mentioned, won't be included in Good's numbers. The PlayBook is expected to go on sale this year as a companion device to the BlackBerry, which has been long-entrenched in the corporate world.

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iPad finds a place in the enterprise

Apple's iPad is easily the IT product of the year -- it's reshaped the computing landscape for consumers and opened new opportunities for media companies hoping to get readers, viewers, and gamers to pay for their content. But will it have an equivalent impact on enterprise IT, beyond its current status of must-have gadget for the up-to-the-minute executive?

Based on interviews with early adopters and enterprises evaluating the tablet, the iPad is emerging as a tool for many enterprise users to access e-mail, calendar and corporate documents, helped by the quality of the screen, the long battery life, weight and ease-of-use.

Steve Shantz, CIO at Trans World Radio (TWR), was bitten by the iPad bug while observing a fellow visitor at a conference, and praises its battery life.

"Long battery life is a killer feature for me. I spend a lot of time on international flights and being able to work for 10 or 11 hours is a huge benefit," said Shantz.

For some users the size of the iPad is also a perfect fit: "Our users are anywhere but at their desks, for them laptops are too cumbersome and the screens on smartphones are too small," said Peter Larsson , CIO at Skistar, which operates ski resorts in Norway and Sweden.

One problem is that it can't be used at low temperatures, but that is a problem for all touchscreens, according to Larsson.

IT executives interviewed agree that the iPad isn't for everyone, but is very well suited for users that consume more content than they produce -- for example, e-mail and corporate documents.

Early on, Nasdaq OMX became involved in developing software for the iPad. The company was invited by Apple to develop an application for the launch. It developed an iPad version of QFolio, which allows users to follow the ups and downs of the stock market. After that, it was a natural step for Nasdaq OMX to take a look at how it could use the iPad internally, according to Carl-Magnus Hallberg, senior vice president in charge of Global IT Services Operations.

While testing the tablet, Hallberg came to the conclusion that the iPad, in addition to managing e-mail and reading documents, is perfect for taking down notes at meetings, and stopped using paper notepads. You can then use any of the available applications to boil down the notes to a to-do-list, which is what you usually want to do after a meeting, he said.

Hallberg isn't the only one who has seen how the iPad can help cut down on paper in the office. Karl Ageberg, CIO at Lund University, says that instead of printing hundreds of pages before every meeting, university board members can all look at the necessary documents on their iPad. Use it that way and you will soon have saved the cost of buying the iPad, he says.

But the iPad isn't just for reading e-mail and taking down notes. In Danish furniture retailer Bolia's stores, the big advantage of using the iPad is that shop assistants are no longer tied to stationary computers. For example, buying a sofa is a complicated process. With the iPad in hand, the assistants don't have to go back to a computer every time the customer has a question about, for example, the cost of a certain fabric. However, the lack of Flash support on the iPad means that assistants can't use Bolia's modelling software to show customers what the sofa would look like in a living room as they would be able to from their desktop PCs with Flash.

Prior to Bolia starting to use iPads in its stores, the company was nervous about the potential cost if they were stolen, dropped or broken. However, that hasn't turned out to be an issue, according to managing director Lars Lyse Hansen. To minimize the risk of iPads being stolen, the company is developing a shoulder bag in which the employees can carry the device while not helping customers, Hansen said.

While the iPad may not have mobile phone functionality built-in, that doesn't mean it can't be used as a phone. TWR has recently installed the Asterisk open source PBX system at its offices in Cary, North Carolina, and Vienna. So when Shantz was at home one morning and saw a voice message in his e-mail from the Vienna office, he turned on the iPad, launched the VPN to the corporate network and the Bria VoIP softphone application, dialed 4 digits and was talking to Vienna on the iPad.

To make the iPad an efficient enterprise tool, the tablet has to be integrated with Windows and Microsoft's other server products, including Sharepoint. TWR is using SharePlus Pro from South Labs for Sharepoint document connectivity, according to Shantz.

Another way to integrate the iPad with the company Windows environment is to use a remote or virtual desktop, which displays the Windows desktop on the iPad. Nasdaq OMX is using software from Citrix and TWR is using the Jump Desktop to do this, but not everyone is convinced it's a good idea. When you start using Windows on your iPad you lose one of the product's main advantages, its ease of use, Ageberg said.

Just like PCs, laptops and smartphones, iPads have to be managed and secured. Nasdaq OMX has found a management platform that will let the IT department control the tablet, including tracking which applications users have installed, according to Hallberg. For security reasons, he isn't willing to divulge which one.

Medical equipment company Medtronic is rolling out software that will control what content goes on the devices, so that it can ensure security and compliance with regulations, according to CIO Michael Hedges.

Enterprise adoption of the iPad is part of a larger trend in which companies are allowing employees to choose which laptop, smartphone or tablet they want to use, irrespective of the operating system. The negative consequences of not allowing users to choose the products they want to use themselves simply isn't worth it, according to Ageberg.

That movement will also open the door to competing products. The iPad has started to see competition from a growing number of Android-based tablets and products based on other platforms, including Research In Motion's upcoming PlayBook.

Medtronic will be device agnostic and use what's best for the company, Hedges said.

"As long as we can manage the Android-based tablets, we are open to allowing employees to use them as well," said Hallberg.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

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Influence blog: iPad can revolutionize your enterprise

Hillman

You'd never know from iPad sales figures Apple released last month that the slate, or tablet, computing platform was actually marketed to the consumer market, not the enterprise.

Apple sold three million iPads in the first 80 days after release last spring — about triple iPhone's figures — and sold 4.2 million in the quarter ending last month.

It's amazing how many people are adapting it for business.

One of our Lansing-based clients, for example, is adapting its production system for iPads they're using on the shop floor. Supervisors are getting into the company's most important business apps right on the floor where the work's being done. They can monitor and report issues right then and there.

The iPad is easy to carry around, at 1.5 pounds, and has the same intuitive user interface that made the iPhone so popular. Connectivity-wise, many corporations already have wireless networks that will work with the iPad, so linking up is a snap.

Traveling salespeople can connect to a cellular wireless network. Health care caseworkers can use them on house calls to access health records and report instantly on the health and well being of their clients.

What iPad is not is a full-size computer. You'll still need a laptop or desktop to create large documents, PowerPoints and spreadsheets.

But the iPad represents easy-to-read, mobile access to that content and to the Web and your e-mail.

Naturally, all the other geeks out there are trying to catch up.

HP intends to release its “iPad killer,” the Slate 500. Microsoft is expected to make a major announcement this month. Android tablets abound.

There are downsides to the iPad, as with every Apple mobile device:

• You're limited to the 100,000 or so available Apple apps. They're well-integrated and intuitive but only sold by Apple. But many are free.

• You're out of luck if you have to use Adobe Flash technology. Apple decided long ago that you don't need it.

• You're limited to AT&T cell connectivity.

And existing iPads do lack a camera and a USB port.

But at a sales training session recently, one man asked me how I like my iPad. I told him I love it. I'm still old-school enough that I don't like typing in a class or meeting. The guy in front of me had a netbook, and he had a tough time keeping up with the discussion.

I, on the other hand, use a cool app that turns the screen into a legal pad, and I use a stylus to write on it. I never run out of paper or ink, and I don't have six legal pads going at the same time. I can share the pages as PDFs by e-mail.

I don't know about you, but that app, for me, is almost all the justification I need for a slate.

Paul Hillman is a partner at C/D/H, a 20-year-old technology consulting company based in Grand Rapids.

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